Ladder brace



E. C. REN

LADDER BRACE Nov. 6, 195] 2 SHEETS--SHEET l Filed June 12, 1948 32 &174 i &mentor Edmund C` Ra in (Ittorneg Nov. 6, 1951 E. c. REIN & 3 I

I LADDER BRACE Filed June 2, 1948 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Edmund Rn J' attotneg Patented Nov. 6, 1951 UNITED STATE LADDER BRA CE Edmund o. t'e n, New `-`js tim'o re',i\iic A Application June 12, 1948; Serial No. 32,651'

This invention relates toiadcler braces, such as resist slipping of the lower'ends of iadders, ths serving as safety-devices. I

An object of .the .invention is to adapta iaddier brace -ior ready adjustment to vary its angilar relation to a ladder, being thus esuited .to different ladder inclinations p Another object is to adapt a. 'ladder ;b-race to be readily attached tovarious widths and types of standard ladders. V

Another .object is .to adapta ladder brace to be quickly shifted to .and from a stored position in which it fts compactly'zbetween the ladder .up-

rights. l v

Another object is' to .providea novel latching device adapted to securely maintain said'stored position of the brace.

Another object is to equip a ladder brace with a shoe having two types .of seating faces and a provision for readily bringing either of such faces into use according to the nature of the surface seating the shoe. r

Another object is to provide 'for applying pair of braces to the lower section of an extension ladder, without interfering with compact stacking of the sections, one on another, 'when not in use.

These and variousother objects are -attaine by the Construction herei nafter 'described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings where'- i Fig. 1 isa longitudinal-vertical seetional View of the lower portion-of a ladder equipped with my improved brace-showi-ng'one or t-he seie'e'tive inclinations of'the la'dder afiorded by the brace.

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing-a stored posi-'- tion of the brace. v

Fig. 3 is a-view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a diiierent inclination of the ladder;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectionalview of one of the ladder rails', taken on line '4- 4 of Fig. -2, and showing the stored brace.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary `front elevational View of a ladder equipped with a pair-of my improved braces, showing their stored-positions.

Fig. 6 is a sectional 'view taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5, and particularly showing latching means to maintain the stored'position of a brace.

Fig. 7 is an exploded viewof -a shoe tor attachment to the prop member of :the improved brace. v i i i Fig. 8 is a side elevationalwiew of the shom.

showing its toothed metallic elements in a tunetioning position. 4 e i Fig. 9 is a similar View showinga friction block element of the shoe in functioning position.

In these views thereference character il designates the rails and 2 therungs of an ordinary wooden ladder, thelower portions of the rails having a slightdownward idiver gency, as best 7 Claims. (01; {aas-60) appears i in Fig; 5, this being common practice. said Ia'dder is equippedswitha pairof. my im proved braces, each comprising' a pr'op 3 ofelia-n nei har form and a linkJlalso torm edbya channel bar, monn-ting the .prap on a rail of the iadder. T-herwidth of the A is slghtly less than that of 'theproprwhereby the fitsw bee twee'n the fianges ;of the. prop in engaging' the latter, and may .be .stored. substantally between said fianges, when wdesired, as bestappears in Ei-gs'. '2, 4 and 6. The channels for-med bythe prop and :link are xelative'lyreversed, :their flanges projecting toward each athens A 'pin 5 .pivotally connectskeach prop to the. ccrresponding link; The pirotal .connectionofeach to the `;corresponding rail ;I is .established by, a' bolts., head'ed 'as indicated at 1 against a. Washer 18 eng aging the ;enter ;face of the rai1. It is pre-,- ferred .to form the :Washer 8 with prong's' 9 which embed .themselves in .the rails and .a :similar Washer m ton .boit engages 'the 'inner face of the corresponding rail. The described points of' attachmerto the links to theare preferably about midwa-y between the lowermost rung '2 and the 'lower ends of the rails.. -A tube H fitted'on' each bolt abuts the comesponding washerio and'extends through 'the flanges &ei the corresponding link A. Anut 12 oneach'bolt 6 clamps washers and M against said tube. retaining the corresponding link A on ;such-tube while -aitord-ing it free pivotal play. .Pre erably the washers M are of a :spl't .spring :typetending' to lock the nuts .on their bots. Each is spaced inwardly from the corresponding washer m bya col lar iicarrednby the correspondinfg tube ll, .the .purposeo this 'being hereinafter explained. i

i The props 3 *have .correspanding end portions each formed with 'several notches in .its fian es 2139 selectively engage the' lowermost rung 2. the construction illustrated, the vprops ;each &lar e three such notches lisa', 1 .611; .and .l Bo. Use of the notches lfia establishes a minimum ,adeviation oi the ladder `from the vertical, as per Fig, 1, :this being the most ;commonly required :ladder posti-5 tion. `A considerably sharper inc'line results ;from use of the notches deh, ;and a maximum incl'ine from use of the notch'es 16c-.(Fig.. 3) other ends of theprops Carry ground or floor .engaging shoes pivtei to 'the prep fianges 'aby 17.4 Each .such shoe ;comp'rises a ,base plate ls'wh is substantially horizontal in :use andhas dow turned opposte ;marg ins I,.9 :serrat d to increase thei-r resistamee to shopin a cl id marsin as ts end p tio s x ormed with notches 20.

between which a tongue is torned. ;for insertion in a slotnz l of a side plate 22. Whe;n the shoe is assembled, its side plates straddl'the base plat and project above the latter to engage the c'qr g resppnding 'pivot pin 11, the prop arryingps n.

sufliciently spaced from the latter to accommodate the plate !8. The fixed end of the latch 25 is preferably welded to the plate 24, the latter having its aforesaid projecting end offset slightly as indicated at 26 to effect the desired spacing of the spring latch and mounting plate. Along its margin remote from its welded end, the latch 25 is bent to form a latch head 21 to snap across an end of the plate !8. Thus the rubber tread 23 may be applied to the shoe either above the plate 18 as per Fig. 8, or below said plate as per Fig. 9, according as it is desired to merely store said tread or put it in use. When above the plate !8, any thrust imposed on the corresponding prop 3 is transmitted through the serrated margins 19 which tend to dig into the ladder-supporting surface to strongly resist slipping. This is desirable when said surface is cement, stone, rough wood, or the like. When, however, a ladder is used on linoleum or any nicely finished surface, the rubber treads 23 are disposed beneaththe plates !8 raising the margins [9 clear of said surface and resisting sliding by a high degree of friction. To increase such frictional resistance, the floor-engaging faces of the treads 23 are preferably ridged, as shown. By latching the rubber treads in place, as described, they may be quickly adjusted for use or disuse and are very securely retained in either position.

- A very important feature of the invention is its provision for locating the braces against the inner faces of the rails and completely out of the way, when not required. Thus the links 4 have notches 28 so spaced from the rail-engaging ends of the links as to accommodate the lowermost rung when the links are upwardly swung into parallelism with the rails. The props may then be downwardly swung about the pins to straddle the links, notches 29 being so formed in the prop fianges as to accommodate the lowermost rung. Thus in a stored position of the braces, the lowermost rung is engaged between the prop and link of each brace, and the braces lie fully between the planes defined by the front and rear faces of the rails. It is to be observed that the function of the notches 28 and 29 is radically different from that of the notches lsa, ltb, and ISc, the latter functioning only when the braces are in use and the former only when the braces are collapsed.

As a provision for positively maintaining the braces in stored position, a latch member 30 having a latch head 31 is pivoted on each tube l l midway between the fianges of the corresponding link 4, being held in such mid position by engagement of a lug 32 on the rear end of the latch member in a slot 33 formed in the yoke portion of the link. The latch head is received by a slot 34 of the prop 3, when the latter is in stored position, and an elongated flat spring 35 secured at one end thereof to the latch member bears at its other end on the channel bottom of the link to urge the latch member to latching position. In that position the latch head overlaps an end margin of the slot 33, preventing separation of the prop and link. The headed end of the latch member is rounded to eflect retraction of said member as the prop and link assume their stored position.

It is desirable to allow a slight forward and back play of the ladder relative to the paired braces to permit of such vibration and flexing as commonly occurs, under load. To afford such play the pin 5 interconnecting the link and prop of each brace is received by Slots 38 in the prop, elongated along the latter.

By equipping a ladder with the described braces,

' the likelihood of accidents is greatly reduced, and

there are made feasible inclinations of the ladder which would be obviously unsafe in the absence of said braces. Provision of the links 4 is a vital feature in adapting the braces to withstand heavy stresses, and said links are further utilized to faclitate collapsing of the braces. when desired and to efiect their retention in stored positions. The function of the spacer collars l5 best appears in Fig. 5, which shows that collapsing of the braces would be interfered with by the ladder rails (due to their upward convergency), if the spacer collars were not provided.

Pivotal attachment of the shoes to the props permits the shoes to adapt themselves to various inclinations of the ladder. The alternative seating provisions aiforded by the shoes, allow the braces to be adapted to different types of laddersupporting surfaces, without damage to any thereof, and deriving the mos't emcient resistance to slipping. r

What I claim is:

1. In a ladder brace, the combination with a ladder comprising a pair of rails, of an abutment fixed on one of side rails, a prop notched to detachably engage said abutment, a link bar, and means. pivoting the ends of the link bar respectively to said prop and rail, the connection of said bar to the rail being downwardly spaced from said abutment, when the brace is in use, said prop and link bar having a stored position of substantial parallelism with the rails said prop and link bar 'having channel forms, and being proportioned to fit one within the other in said stored position.

2. A ladder brace as set forth in claim 1, said prop and link bar having laterally opening notches jointly accommodating said abutment in the stored position of the brace.

3. In a` ladder brace as set forth in claim 1, a latch element for detachably interconnecting said prop and link bar in their stored position, said element being pivoted on one of said parts requiring interconnection, and the other of such parts being apertured to receive such element.

4. In a ladder brace as set forth in claim 1, a latch member pivoted on the link bar substantially at its rail connection and detachably engageable with the prop in the stored position of the prop and link bar.

5. A ladder brace'as set forth in claim 1, said prop having a plurality of notches to selectively receive said abutment in use positions of the prop, and having an additional notch for receiving the abutment in said stored position.

6. In a ladder brace as set forth in claim 1, said link bar being swingable about its rail-engaging end to one side of said abutment in assuming said stored position, and said prop being swingable on the link into substantial parallelism With the link at the other side of said abutment, means for detachably latching the rail-engaging end portionof the link bar to the prop to maintain their stored relation to the abutment.

7. In a ladder brace, the combination with a ladder comprising a pair of rails, of an abutment fixed on one of said rails, a prop notched to detachably engage said abutment, a link bar, an element pivoting one end of said bar to the prop, an element pivoting the other end of said bar to one of the rails, a latch member pivoted on the last-mentioned element to engage the prop, and a spring acting on the latch member to yieldably maintain its engagement with the prop, the prop and link bar having a stored position of substantial parallelism with the rails and said latch element being effective to maintain such position.

EDMUND C. REIN.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 840365 Pease Jan. 1, 1907 1,521,814 Houska Jan. 6, 1925 1,656,817 Deppe Jan. 17, 1928 1,811,722 Kimberlin June 23, 1931 1,812,119 Ruse June 30, 1931 1,948,577 Harsen Feb. 27, 1934 2,163,970 White June 27, 1939 2,485,685 Armstrong Oct. 25, 1949 

